Questions about HAL ...

[derheld]

Hi,

 

my wife and me did not do any cruise before and now we are thinking about going to the rio-lisboa transatlantic cruise in april. From the reviews I read it seems that the the average age is 60+ since we are around 30, we wonder if that we might be too young for HAL !? We have no problems with older pepole than us, but someone in our age would be nice ...

 

The second thing we wonder is how formal the dresscode is? How often are formal nights and how formal is the dresscode on non-formal nights.

 

Since our vacation is in april and the only two ships doing this trip are the HAL Rotterdam or the Queen Mary2, we are unsure if the trip is right for us. It is not that we want to party all the time, but we dont want to have to wear tuxedo all the time ...

[Atomica]

HAL passengers aren't all necessarily 60+ (I'm 23!). If you are around 30, my guess is you won't have any problems meeting people your age. On the sailings I've been on, there's always been a nice mix of passengers - everything from 2 to 92 year olds. In fact, the crowd on the Oosterdam this past May was far livlier than on the NCL Sun!

 

As for the dress code, typically there's 2 formal nights on a 7 day sailing. That varies for longer sailings of course, and while they recommend a tuxedo for men, it's not required - a nice dark business suit will do just fine. The rest of the days are sort of resort-casual.

 

This is purely a guess, as I haven't been on the QM2 (I'd like to!...), but I'd imagine you'd be more likely to have a better passenger mix on the Rotterdam than on QM2.

 

In the end, if you like the itinerary and the ship, I'd just dive right into it - it's the only way you'll know if it suits you! Hope that helps - good luck with your decision!

[mechcc]

You don't have to wear a tuxedo all the time, but_________, on a transalantic cruise you will probably run into a much older clientle then on 7 day cruises regardless of what cruise line you go with. My impression on a 7 day cruise with HAL, they were pretty strict with the dress code in the dining room, as I saw several parties turned away. Every cruiseline has a unique feel and you as an individual have to figure out if and when it's right for you. Good luck - picking the right cruiseline will result in an obsession with cruising, picking the wrong cruise will result in a highly emotional reaction to the detriments of cruising.

[ahoymatey3]

There was a good mix on my 10 night W. caribbean. Early 20s to 90+. HAL is a dressier line and the dresscode is for the entire night. You'll have a great time.

[bepsf]

My understanding is that Cunard's transatlantics are formal almost every night.

You'll enjoy HAL - it's like living on a large country estate at sea...

[RuthC]

The trans-Atlantic's tend to draw an older, dressier crowd than the shorter, Caribbean cruises. (I'm a veteran of three round-trips and a one-way.)

The Rotterdam is a traditional, elegant ship and the atmosphere aboard will reflect that. On longer cruises the night-life tends to the early side.

This doesn't mean that you can't have a nice cruise, but you do need to be aware of the style before you sign up.